A strike force of Eric Cantona and Jean-Pierre Papin having camouflaged the tactical poverty of manager Gérard Houllier, who prioritised caution and physicality over skill and adventure, France had arrived at the top of their qualifying group with just two games to go, both at home. First up were the group's winless whipping boys, Israel, who amazingly took the lead. Les Bleus soon restored the natural order of things, a superb David Ginola goal putting them 2-1 up. But the fear inherent in Houllier's approach re-surfaced later and, sensing it, the Israelis began running at the jittery home defence as if their own qualification for the World Cup was on the line. Amid French panic, Israel equalised in the 83rd minute and then plundered an incredible winner three minutes into time added on (sending the voice of this Israeli commentator to an amusingly high pitch).

France slipped to second place in the group behind Sweden but that would still be enough to reach the USA 94 – all Les Bleus had to do was avoid defeat against their final opponents, third-place Bulgaria. France began tentatively but in the 32 minute planted one foot in America when Cantona collected a superb knock-down from Papin to smash into the net from close range. That goal, however, seemed to make Houllier's men even tenser and, just five minutes later, Laurent Blanc sloppily conceded a corner that Emil Kostadinov headed in at the near post. Bulgaria took charge of the game but France appeared to have clung on for the point they needed when they were awarded a free-kick by the Bulgarian corner flag in the 90th minute – the perfect opportunity to run down the clock. Instead, Ginola wafted a cross to no one in particular and Bulgaria were able to launch one last attack. Luboslav Penev clipped a delightful pass to Kostadinov, who got the jump on the dozing Alain Roche and sent a thunderous shot into the net off the underside of the bar. The French players collapsed in disbelief, Bulgarians rejoiced and Houllier sought a scapegoat. "Ginola has committed a crime against the French national team!" fumed Houllier, who still gets angry about reports that he later added to journalists that "Ginola is an assassin!" PD

The decisive match in any England World Cup qualification campaign tends to follow one of two paths. Most common is the Katowice option, embodied most fully by the 0-0 draw in October 1989 in Poland's most polluted city that nudged Bobby Robson's team into Italia 90. This was Peter Shilton's match, the 40-year-old pulling off a series of brilliant saves to keep England in it which suggested, misleadingly, that he might be a force at the finals the following summer. This is the way England usually do it, with a whimper. The second option is the Rotterdam approach, the chaotic failure to qualify captured best of all in the 2-0 defeat by Holland in 1993. Graham Taylor fretting on the touchline. That brutally clinical clinching second goal from Dennis Bergkamp. The perceived "bad luck".

Perhaps this well-grooved dual approach to World Cup qualification is what makes the 0-0 draw in Rome in October 1997 stand out. This was different. This was calm and tactically coherent. And this was also England's most interesting World Cup qualifier of modern times. Glenn Hoddle's team went to Rome needing just a draw to make it to France 98. Hoddle had been trying to make his England team play in a way that didn't look like an England team - keeping the ball and building attacks patiently - and here they did so in thrilling fashion. It turned out to be Paul Gascoigne's last competitive match for England: strange given the controlled brilliance of his performance against an Italian midfield containing Demetri Albertini, Angelo Di Livio and Dino Baggio.

There were moments of drama: Paul Ince left the field to have his head bandaged; Di Livio was sent off; Ian Wright hit the post after rounding Angelo Peruzzi; and right at the last Christian Vieiri's header flashed over the bar with some parts of the stadium already celebrating a goal. But England had qualified in stately fashion, keeping the ball, passing it smoothly and smothering a team that had won its previous 15 competitive home matches. This was also the beginning and end of the brilliant new Hoddle world order. England would go out of the World Cup on penalties to Argentina. Hoddle was sacked 16 months later. But for one night, at least, England had looked, if not unarguably world beaters, then at least not much like England. BR

Few international fixtures generate an atmosphere as poisonous as the one that infects Algeria v Egypt clashes. There are historical grievances and social prejudices between the two countries, and over the years football has provided a chance for media and assorted ne'er-do-wells to stoke these to the extent that matches have become the focus of a malevolent synergy. That makes for manically tense encounters that often explode – such as in the 1984 Olympic qualifiers when a match between the teams repeatedly degenerated into brawls and, even more alarmingly, on the last stop to Italia 90.

Algeria were aiming to reach their third successive World Cup and, equipped with a side that a few months later would blitz all before them in the African Cup of Nations, were strong favourites. But they were held to a 0-0 draw at home, meaning they had to seek qualification in Cairo. They fell behind after just four minutes to a header by Hossam Hossan. That was the last goal of a fiercely fought match, but things really got going after the final whistle, when some of the victorious Egyptian team celebrated by attacking their vanquished rivals. An almighty donnybrook ensued, officials and fans joining in as players picked up objects that had been hurled on to the pitch – and ornamental plants on display around the ground – and tore into each other with savage gusto. The Egyptian team doctor sustained an eye injury after, he alleged, being hit with a bottle by Algerian striker Lakhdar Belloumi. A former African player of the year, Belloumi made it back to Algeria but it would be 20 years before he could travel abroad again, the two countries' heads of state eventually managing to persuade Interpol to drop their international arrest warrant. PD

The bubbling cauldron of sectarian bile that is Belfast's Windsor Park threatened to boil over on a November night when Northern Ireland's despised southern rivals visited with their chances of qualification for USA 1994 on the proverbial knife-edge. The home side were already out, but this was their manager Billy Bingham's valedictory turn after two terms in office and he'd done his bit to raise the pre-match temperature, labelling Jack Charlton's side "a bunch of mercenaries" before inciting his own fans on his way to the dug-out.

With two qualification places up for grabs in Group 3, Spain were doing their bit to elbow Denmark out of the equation in Seville, which meant a draw would suffice for Ireland. They appeared reasonably comfortable in understandably tense circumstances as they laid siege to their hosts' goal. But in the 73rd minute it all went orange-shaped for the visitors when Northern Ireland embarked on a rare sortie that ended with Jimmy Quinn firing an unstoppable volley past Packie Bonner. Cue: raucous celebrations from the understandably delighted home crowd, followed by more incendiary rabble-rousing from Bingham. Ten minutes later, the Republic's relentless pressure yielded a free-kick deep in Northern Ireland territory. Denis Irwin's floated delivery was headed clear, but only as far as substitute Alan McLoughlin on the edge of the penalty area. Chesting down the clearance, the Portsmouth midfielder fired a sweet left-footed volley through a thicket of legs and beyond goalkeeper Tommy Wright. In 26 of Ireland's 32 counties, all hell broke loose.

"It was scary, it was intimidating," McLoughlin would tell the Observer's Jon Henderson nine years later. "The safest place to be was on the pitch, not sitting by the sidelines, so when Jack said, 'Get your gear, you're going on,' I was a bit relieved to get off the bench." McLoughlin was one of the lucky ones. Charlton had also told Tony Cascarino to ready himself for action, only for the super-sub to peel off his tracksuit and discover he'd forgotten to put on his shirt. In his acclaimed autobiography, Cascarino recalled his tomfoolery: "I have always believed that had Alan McLoughlin not equalised as we were waiting for [kitman] Charlie [O'Leary] to get the shirt, there's a fair chance Jack would have chinned me," he wrote. BG

With two games of the group stages remaining, Scotland, Wales and European champions Czechoslovakia could all have qualified, but the Welsh absolutely had to beat the Scots in their "home" game, played at Anfield. It started badly, Scotland going close several times in the opening minutes and having one decent penalty appeal – for a handball, against Joe Jones – turned down. Wales then took control, Terry Yorath the captain and enforcer in midfield, John Toshack – in his first game for seven months – impressing in attack. But they missed a string of chances, and the game remained tied at 0-0 when, with 12 minutes left, Willie Johnston chipped a harmless ball into the Wales penalty area. David Jones challenged Joe Jordan and the referee, spotting a handball, pointed to the spot. TV replays suggested, inconclusively, that it was Jordan who had handled. Unperturbed, Don Masson scored from the spot and Kenny Dalglish went on to head a second. "None of my players handled it," fumed the Welsh manager Mike Smith. "As far as I know, the ball did not touch me," said Jordan. "All I know is that a hand punched the ball," said Scotland's manager Ally MacLeod. "You win some, you lose some." And Scotland were off to Argentina. SB

A ridiculous 31-0 over American Samoa at the start of the campaign did not fool followers of the Socceroos, who knew from bitter experience that the road to qualification didn't get bumpy until Australia had to take on a country with a population at least big enough to fill a dressing room. Argentina had prevented them reaching USA 94 and, when managed by Terry Venables, they fell short of France 98 after contriving to throw away a two-goal lead against Iran. In 2001 their opponents were again South American but the men from Down Under began to believe they could make Korea/Japan when a Kevin Muscat penalty gave them a 1-0 victory in the first leg in Melbourne. Five days later in Montevideo, however, Harry Kewell and co came a cropper. It took just 14 minutes for Dario Silva to level on aggregate and while the Aussies fought back they were caught by a sucker punch in the 70th minute when Richard Morales headed home an Alvaro Recoba free-kick. Australia's response was muted, unlike that of the Uruguayan commentator, who, after Morales struck again in the 87th minute, lustily celebrated another goooooooooooooooooooooollllllllllllllll!PD